[1][2] Gallie was born in Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire, near Glasgow, the son of an engineer.
[1] He served in the British Army from 1940 to 1945, leaving the service with the rank of major.
[1] [The time he spent in the army] evidently made an [sic] great impression upon him.
Though a very out-going man, he never spoke of his wartime experiences though he repeatedly returned to the philosophical aspects of war in conversation.
[1] In Gallie's paper on 'Essentially contested concepts', he argued that it is impossible to conclusively define key appraisive concepts such as 'social justice,' 'democracy,' 'Christian life', 'art', 'moral goodness' and 'duty', although it is possible and rational to discuss one's justifications for holding one interpretation over competing ones.